Tell me about selling your car - preferably US, past 2 years

March 29, 2023 6:49 AM

I have a car that I would like to sell. It is evident that if I sell it directly to a buyer I will get 20% more, which is substantial. (The car has exceptionally low mileage and is rarely available used.) But I've never sold a car. Have you sold a car (not traded in) in the past couple of years? What did you do? How did it go? What would you do differently? I would love to hear both dream stories and horror stories, and am especially interested in Massachusetts stories.
posted by rednikki to Travel & Transportation (13 answers total)

Best answer: My situation was not that similar to yours -- it was a Honda Fit, not especially low mileage, and it was in Southern California (mid-late 2021). But here's what I did:

• Took some pictures of the interior and exterior.
• Put it up on Craigslist priced about 40% higher than what I was hoping for.
• Made an appointment with the first person who contacted me.
• They came over, turned it on but didn't drive it around (their choice) and made a lowball offer, which I refused.
• Made another appointment.
• That person came over and went for a test drive (with me in the car).
• They offered me about 20% more than I was hoping to get, so I took it.
• They paid in cash on the spot.

It was basically fine and I wouldn't really have done anything differently.

Just keep your bullshit detector on, don't do any nonstandard payment arrangements, don't let the person test drive without you... I dunno, that all seems pretty obvious. (Maybe there's non-obvious stuff that I should have done, though!)

Make sure to fill out the paperwork to send to the DMV right away. Probably good to research that beforehand.
posted by number9dream at 7:26 AM on March 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

I sold, but to a sort of dealer. Think car, van, uh. Easiest thing ever. Price was very fair, but definitely not the same as waiting patiently for my price and the private buyer to magically show up with small unmarked bills or a cashiers check.

Consider getting a price, which can be done online, from the internet car dealers and using that as a floor. Give the private transaction say two to four weeks, then hit the bid if not sold. I think your time you have to sell is important. If you want to do the sale soonest, it may be harder to do. If you are willing to wait say 4 weeks, you may catch a buyer.

Many years ago (30+) I sold a car in a private transaction. It was a time-consuming nerve racking experience for me. Met with at least 5 people. Likely that was my fault. I vowed to avoid that. My son trades cars like they are sports trading cards. Probably buys and sells two or three cars a year. He knows the market and can fix minor issues to add value. He takes cash or cashiers checks only. The above advice about not taking any non-standard payment arrangements is VERY Good advice.

I think there is a big difference between selling a used car with many miles and some minor issues and selling a rare (to the used car market) car with low mileage in very good condition. I think your issue will be finding a buyer willing to pay somewhere between retail and wholesale. There is a lot more demand for a used $10,000 car than a used $30,000 car in a private transaction.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:30 AM on March 29, 2023

I sold a low-mileage car just about 2 years ago. Looked at private sale estimates and went to Carmax just to see what they’d offer. It was a few grand shy of what I could have gotten in a private sale, but I decided the time I’d spend selling it was more valuable than the extra cash. (I recognize I was in a very privileged position to be able to make that choice.) I took their offer on the spot and walked away with a check.
posted by okayokayigive at 8:27 AM on March 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: If you're selling privately, cash or cashier's check are still generally the way to go. Either way, do it at the bank.

Cash: Meet at your bank, deposit the cash. The bank will count/verify its authenticity. Hand over the keys and title once the bank accepts your cash deposit. (This also means you aren't carrying thousands in cash after the sale, and are much less likely a target of a follow-up robbery.)

Cashier's Check: Meet at the bank. Witness the check actually being drawn and issued by the bank teller. (Cashier's check forgery is a huge thing on Craigslist-esque sales.) Only hand over the keys and title after you've witnessed the check being cut by the bank teller.

Get the buyer's insurance info before allowing a test-drive, and don't let them drive without you. If you don't feel comfortable doing this, or if you feel outnumbered because the buyer brought one or more intimidating friends to ride along, walk away. You are absolutely free to walk away from any deal at any point, especially if you are concerned for your safety.

If all of this seems like too much of a hassle, an option like Carvana or selling to a dealer may be the right choice. You'll likely get less than from a private sale, but you can usually sell it on the spot, and with a fairly high degree of security, without sweating the scams.

If the buyer wants to use an escrow service, or arrange to buy the car sight unseen and have you ship it to them or have someone pick it up, assume it's a scam.

There should be instructions on your title for what you, the seller, should do. This usually includes retaining a stub portion of the title and reporting the sale, and some states instruct you to remove your old plates before handing over the title. Those steps are designed to help keep you free from liability, should the buyer get into a wreck or something after buying your car.
posted by xedrik at 9:12 AM on March 29, 2023 [8 favorites]

Best answer: Before someone test drives it, take a picture of their license because acciidents happen.
Clean it really, really well, vacuum thoroughly, and let it air out well. Then spray a tiny amount of air freshener.
Gather any records of maintenance & locate the title.
As well as Craigslist, post on fb marketplace, and put a For Sale sign in the window.
Let friends, family, & coworkers know you have a sweet car for sale.
Take pictures from each corner, and the inside from each door. Photo of the mileage.
Photocopy or take a photo of the title and any papers you hand over.

I have bought and sold cars on craigslist, just be somewhat wary, and ask for cash. Sellers went to my bank with me so I could get cash for a car. Legit buyers and sellers are reasonable.
posted by theora55 at 9:17 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: We sold two cars last summer. First thing we just put out word among our friends, and that did in fact make one sale, nice and easy - they paid in part cash and part cashier's check.

For the second we just parked the car along the main street in and out of our neighborhood with a sign on it with a number to text. We turned it around as quickly as we could, basically whoever came for a test drive (my husband texted me a photo of the prospective buyer and their driver license) and was ready to go get a cashier's check for the amount we wanted and meet him at the bank to hand it over got the car. A couple of people flaked but I think we had it gone in 8 days.

We got a bit more than CarMax offered, and we knew we could in our case because these were Priuses and they had brand new battery array replacements (pretty much a given around 110K miles, and minimum $2500 to have done), which CarMax wouldn't take into consideration. They also had brand new catalytic converters with guards welded on. So it was worth the extra legwork.

Definitely start by alerting your network, since it sounds like a good car you'd feel confident in a friend or acquaintance driving. Get it detailed and get a printout of all its service records, and you can even offer a bounty if you want to any friend who brings you a low-stress buyer.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:23 AM on March 29, 2023

Best answer: When I sold a car privately, I posted on ad on craigslist. The listing had plenty of detailed photos, and an honest and thorough description of the car's condition. I then chose a price I thought was fair, and made clear in the posting that this was a non-negotiable straight-cash price, and the first person to offer exactly that price would get the car.

I then chose a Sunday, in a nearby parking lot, and made appointments, about half an hour apart, with people who expressed interest. I think I had five or so appointments lined up, the third person bought the car.
posted by kickingtheground at 10:55 AM on March 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

I sold to Carvana, and it was so easy. I was liquidating an estate and the estate owned the car outright. All I needed was the title (and the papers to prove that I was the estate rep.) I checked Kelley Blue Book myself, I went to the website, and got an estimate. It was better than KBB, so I initiated the sale. The salesperson came to my home, with a signed check for the amount we agreed upon. I signed over the title, and they took the car away on a flatbed. I literally never left my house and got 15% more than KBB for the car. It was incredibly easy and I would absolutely do business with them again.
posted by headspace at 10:56 AM on March 29, 2023

I am in Massachusetts. I would check Carvana for a quote. It is so easy to at least get a quote! If it is in the ballpark of what you hope to get (it probably will be) then I would just sell it to them to avoid all of the time and effort of a private sale.
posted by TurkishGolds at 11:07 AM on March 29, 2023

Best answer: I sold one car last summer, and another about a month ago, both via Craigslist. The process was exactly as kickingtheground describes. I posted on Craigslist an honest and complete description of each car's condition, including when all recent maintenance was done (tires, brakes, one-off things, etc.), as well as the car's flaws. I put in the ad a number of clear pictures, and also included the VIN number so potential buyers could check out the car's history. I looked online and found the car's Kelly Blue Book value range, and priced it towards the top of that range, and added "cash only, price firm".

I got a whole lot of messages, most offering lowball offers. I made appointments with people who expressed interest who didn't give me a lower offer than my firm price. The first guy flaked out. The second guy bought it. I watched him take cash out of an ATM (I was afraid of getting fake money). Then we did the sale. I gave him all the maintenance records and paperwork. Don't forget a screwdriver to remove your plates before you hand over the car! For each car, we got over double what we would have gotten with Carvana or a dealer, and the hassle was not very great - a few hours at most. Would definitely do it again.
posted by ClaireBear at 11:09 AM on March 29, 2023

Best answer: Nthing to do the transaction at a bank. Cashier's checks and money orders are trivial to forge.

Ensure that your insurance will cover it if an accident happens during the test drives.

Be aware of the lemon law.

Make sure you keep your plates.
posted by Candleman at 1:11 PM on March 29, 2023

I also sold a car to Carvana last year. They gave me almost what I paid for the car in 2018. It was super easy. Highly recommend if they offer close to what you're expecting to get from a private sale. No sketchy people wanting to test drive, no haggling, no DMV. They came to my house, drove the car around the block to make sure it was in the condition I had reported, and then came with a flatbed and hauled it away. Easiest $10k I ever made.
posted by DEiBnL13 at 9:24 PM on March 29, 2023

Response by poster: For future readers of this thread, I wanted to note: Carvana used to give huge amounts of money for cars. Then in late 2022, while bleeding money, they discovered their algorithm caused them to overvalue cars. They rewrote the algorithm and seem to be less generous than an individual dealer now.
posted by rednikki at 3:48 AM on March 30, 2023